Belltown activist leads by example
Andrea Suarez is a woman on a mission. Her goal: a beautiful and safe downtown. When litter and graffiti started overwhelming her Belltown neighborhood, she took matters into her own hands—literally.
“Seattle is everyone’s backyard and people need to be ‘hands on.’ It’s not enough to call your Council Member or the Mayor. Step outside and make your presence known. We need a cultural shift.”
To that end she bought supplies and led a series of impromptu neighborhood litter picks that gave neighbors a chance to do good and build community. The success of these forays led her to launch I Heart Downtown Seattle on Facebook, a group 600-strong and growing.
Suarez says her work and the group are apolitical but writes, “Cleaning up our parks and downtown is inevitably intertwined with homelessness, drug addiction, crime, gridlocked politics and questionable policy.” Still, she is focused on the positive.
“We started with litter picks and cleaning graffiti, but I want to provide data points for change.”
For more on I Heart Downtown Seattle visit their facebook page
